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The Potsdam Conference (1)
In the Potsdam conference, the United States president, Harry S. Truman, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the Russian Premier, Joseph Stalin, met to discuss peace settlements for Europe. Specifically, the occupation of Austria, the borders of Poland, the determination of reparations, and the Soviet´s rule in Eastern Europe were discussed. -
The Potsdam Conference (2)
The main concerns at the Potsdam conference were the administration of defeated Germany and the continued military campaigns against Japan (¨Potsdam Conference¨). The conference began to fuel the introduction to using atomic bombs to disable Japan. It also introduced deep conflicting aims for the Western democracies and the Soviet Union. This meeting marked the end of allied Summit conferences. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (1)
Established by 12 of the most important Western nations during the Cold War, NATO provided collective security for the Western European nations that functioned against the Soviet Union. Before the organization was formed, between 1947 and 1948, the Western European nations were insecure. They felt as if their physical state and their political system were at risk. Also, the United States were becoming closer to European Affairs. -
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2)
At these events, 12 of the European countries formed the organization. The creation of NATO put every last one of the European Nations under the, “Nuclear Umbrella”, protecting them from a nuclear war, or some other related violent act. Also, it was considered the first military doctrine, or “massive retaliation” ("North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)”). -
The Korean War (2)
This outburts started because North Korea was angered by the fact that the country was split, and that they had lost their independance. Also, the Soviet Union would not allow the people in North Korea to vote because they were part of the Soviet section ("Korean War"). After the war was over, a boundary line was created in order to separate the two countries (It was located close to the front line of June, 1951). -
The Korean War (3)
It took the lives of 13,000,000 South Koreans, 1,000,000 Chinese, 500,000 North Koreans, and 37,000 Americans. This border remained through the 21st Century. -
The Korean War (1)
After Japan lost during World War II, the Soviet Union took the northern parts, and the United States took the southern parts. The country was officially split into North and South Korea. North Korea attacked the South side of the 38th Parallel, which marked the border between the two countries. China was also involved later on in the battles, and the United States were called to action (they helped the people of South Korea). This attack marked the beginning of the Korean War. -
The Vietnam War (1)
The Vietnam war, involving the two parts of Vietnam and the United States, was a result of North Vietnam wanting to reunite the countries so be one Vietnam. The southerners did not afree with the communist economic system in North Vietnam, and as they disagreed with it more and more, they started to attack Diem´s government. Diem was a Roman Catholic that slaughtered many Buddhist's in his rule. -
The Vietnam War (2)
South Vietnam´s main goal was to prevent the two countries from uniting under communism, with the help of the United States (¨Vietnam War¨). The communists ended up winning the war in April of 1975. In 1976, both North and South Vietnam were made into one country, simply called, ¨Vietnam¨. Hanoi, in what was North Vietnam, was named the capital shortly after the combination. -
The Warsaw Pact (1)
The Warsaw Pact brought about the idea of creating an alliance between the Soviet Union and Europe. The Pact also allowed troops and weapons to be transported to Europe. Clearly, this part of the Cold War only involved the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The Pact was aimed at creating a strong defense alliance, in response to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which controlled the East ("Warsaw Pact"). -
The Warsaw Pact (2)
This pact, however, did cause nationalism and hostility to form against the soviets from outside countries. The Soviet Union had to respond with force in order to get out of the situation. -
The Hungarian Revolution (Opt., 1)
Paragraph: A popular upset among the Hungarian people that arose due to a speech by Nikita Khrushchev, the Hungarian Revolution started due to encouragement from the new freedom of debate and criticism policies. The first accounted of active fighting was in October of 1956, when unrest and discontent escalated. The Soviet Union invaded Hungary in order to stop the fighting, where Imre Nagy (the Premier after the first battle), was executed for treason. -
The Hungarian Revolution (Opt., 2)
Stalinist-type domination and exploitation did not return to the Hungarian people, therefore allowing Hungary to undergo a slow evolution into an internal autonomy ("Hungarian Revolution¨). -
The Suez Crisis (1)
In the middle East, a dispute arose due to the building of the Suez Canal in Egypt. A combination of British, French, and Israeli soldiers attacked the Egyptians in disagreement with the building. The main cause of the upset was the nationalization of the canal, meaning it was open to surrounding countries for use in transportation (¨Suez Crisis¨). -
The Suez Crisis (2)
In conclusion, the canal was built, but in return, the people of Israel regained their shipping rights in the straits of Tiran, while Britain and France lost most of their influence on the middle Eastern countries. -
Space Race and ¨Sputnik¨ (1)
The Soviet Union, on October 4, 1957, launched Earth´s first artificial sattelite, Sputnik-1. This began the rise in Cold War tensions, as well as the arms race. The developments of space technology and equipment began to increase drastically due to the International Council of Scientific Unions, which called for an increase in satellite technology in the late 1957 into 1958. -
Space Race and ¨Sputnik¨ (2)
The United States had grown afraid, as the military had though they were falling very far behind as far as general technologic advances, as well as space exploration. The United States began investing a lot of money in the sattelite program, which first ended in a disaster with, ¨Vanguard¨, which exploded at its designated launch point ("Sputnik"). -
Space Race and ¨Sputnik¨ (3)
This Space Race led to US policy makers accelerating space technology and weapon production, which struck fear in the Soviet Union and other European countries. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis (1)
During the Cold War, during John F. Kennedy´s presidential term, an American spy plane discovered a Soviet ss-4 medium range ballistic missile being assembled in Cuba. This caused a great upset in the United States, especially after Kennedy´s announcement which regarded the presence of missilies. Everyone thought that a nuclear war would erupt. Fidel Castro, a leftist revolutionary leader, seized power in the Carribean Island capital of Cuba. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis (2)
He also aligned himself with the Soviet Union. As the US and the Soviets were in the middle of the Cold War, Cuba depended on the Soviets for military equipment and aid, and so they recieved high power military equipment. The United States were now scared, and the only way for them to not be attacked by Cube was to sign a treaty, stating that they would not invade Turkey at any time during the war (¨Cuban Missile Crisis"). -
The Cuban Missile Crisis (3)
This crisis led to an immediate increase in the investment for the arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which had the ability to reach US territory. -
The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia (Opt., 1)
The Soviet Union led Warsaw pact troops into an invasion of Czechoslovakia, in order to establish a more conservative and pro-soviet government iin Prague. The invasion was ordered in order to crack down on reformist trends in Prague. The Soviet leaders were worried that the recent developments in Czechoslovakia would allow the reformations to spread to other sattelite states in Eastern Europe. -
The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia (Opt., 2)
This, according to these leaders, may have led to a widespread rebellion against Moscow´s leadership of the Eastern bloc. After the invasion, the Soviet leadership justified the use of force in Prague under what would become known as the Brezhnev Doctrine, which stated that Moscow had the right to intervene in any country where a communist government had been threatened. -
The Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia (Opt., 3)
This doctrine, established to justify Soviet action in Czechoslovakia, also became the primary justification for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 ("Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia"). -
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Opt., 1)
Soviet Union troops started to invade Afghanistan in the later days of December in 1979. This invasion was aimed at assisting the Afghan-communist government in its conflict against the anti-communist Muslim Guerrillas during the Afghan war (1978-92). -
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Opt., 2)
The new government, which had little popular support, and started after the throwing-over of president Mohammad Daud Kha, forged close ties with the Soviet Union, launched ruthless purges of all domestic opposition, and began extensive land and social reforms that were bitterly resented by the devoutly Muslim and largely anticommunist population. -
The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (Opt., 3)
In 1988, the Soviet Union signed an accord with the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops. The Soviet withdrawal was completed on Feb. 15, 1989, and Afghanistan returned to nonaligned status (¨Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan¨). -
Glasnost & Perestroika (1)
Glasnost and Perestroika were both started by Mikhail Gorbachev, a Soviet leader. In Glasnost, Gorbachev´s main goal was to institute a program that democratized the Soviet Union (¨Glasnost¨), and in Perestroika, his goal was to restructure the economic and political policies (¨Perestroika¨). In Glasnost, it is explained that Gorbachev believed that opening the political system and allowing ordinary citizens to work in it was the only way to push it towards economic recovery (¨Glasnost¨). -
Glasnost and Perestroika (2)
For Perestroika, Gorbachev saw that the program could be used for the moderate and controlled reform of the revitilalization of the stagnant Soviet economy (¨Perestroika¨). The primary concern was the restructure of the Soviet´s government systems. Due to these installments of Gorbachev´s ideas, the Communist party continued to rule the Soviet Union, but it was reduced greatly. Also, a revolution in the government system evolved: Multi-candidate elections took place.
